Basketball event to benefit Ellsworth groups

Entertainment basketball, which helps people in a variety of ways, is coming to Ellsworth when the Harlem Superstars take on the Ellsworth Dream Team at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 2, at the Ellsworth High School gymnasium.

Hosted by the Ellsworth Area Chamber of Commerce with RE/MAX Hills and Harbors of Ellsworth as the major sponsor, proceeds from this fun-filled family event benefit the Ellsworth High School Athletic Program, the Beth C. Wright Cancer Resource Center and the EACC.

Chamber marketing coordinator Kelly Cochrane reports that tickets are $5 in advance or $6 at the door.

Advance tickets can be obtained at the Chamber, 163 High St., at RE/MAX, 409B High St. and Morrison Chevrolet on Route 1, all in Ellsworth; and at NAPA Auto Parts stores in Ellsworth, Blue Hill, Milbridge and Southwest Harbor.

And Cochrane wants all area veterans to know that RE/MAX is offering anyone who served in the U.S. military up to four free tickets per veteran.

Those tickets must be obtained in advance by visiting RE/MAX Hills and Harbors or calling RE/MAX at 664-0434.

The Chamber has sponsored this type of benefit in the past but it has been a few years since such a major fundraiser has been undertaken, so everyone involved is hoping to fill the house.

Spreading the wealth, so to speak, this event will help support EHS sports programs, the extensive and marvelous work of the Beth C. Wright Center and projects of the Chamber.

The Beth C. Wright Cancer Resource Center, according to its website “is one of only three, freestanding cancer resource centers in Maine.”

Its mission is “to offer hope, knowledge and support to cancer patients, their families, caregivers and friends by providing a source of information, social services and compassion through all stages of the cancer journey.”

The center “serves Hancock and Washington counties, where the incidence, prevalence and mortality rates for cancer far exceed both the state and national averages.”

Cochrane said the Chamber chose the Beth C. Wright Cancer Resource Center as a beneficiary of the event in acknowledgment of the support the organization offers “patients and families with cancer … and the difference its presence in the area makes in people’s lives.”

Proceeds also will help the 640 Chamber member businesses, mostly in the Hancock County area but representing statewide interests as well, continue the Chamber’s support of other community projects, large and small, Cochrane said.

While the names of the “Ellsworth Dream Team” players aren’t being revealed until game time, you are sure to enjoy watching a group of local athletes try to tame the Harlem Superstars.

“We’ve pulled together a group of amazing athletes who are sure to keep you on the edge of your seats,” Cochrane said, adding Chamber members are excited that the focus of this event “is audience participation,” and that it is sure to be “a fun evening for the whole family.”

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Mike Dow of the WKSQ-WABK “Mike & Mike Show” reminds people that the radio hosts will conduct their 12th annual Living Outside Food Drive for Manna Ministries Monday, Nov. 22, through Wednesday, Nov. 24, across from Oriental Jade Restaurant and the cinemas at the Bangor Mall.

Last year, Dow wrote, people donated more than 39 tons of food during the drive, which helped Manna “to feed people, with this food, through the winter and into April.”